March 18, 1927: “fourty eighth anniversary”

Friday the eighteenth
Cloudy + warm. Edith washed the kitchen curtains. This is my fourty eighth anniversary I dont look or feel much like the girl that was married fourty eight years ago today. I’m an “old woman” I did not realize then that I would ever be called that. I tho’t life was going to be all “cakes + ale” because I was going to spend it with John. Well soon it will not make much difference. Usually have Bessie + Lill up but Edith did not seem to want them this year + Clarence was home. Read aloud + went to bed.

NOTES + EXPLANATIONS

Northern Expedition: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek‘s Nationalist forces arrived at the defensive line protecting the city of Shanghai. Instead of defending against the enemy, the garrison commander collaborated with the Nationalists, as well as handing over the plans for city’s defense. Though offered a position with Chiang’s forces, the officer who betrayed his commander declined to work further with them. One author wrote later, “Stupidly, he went home to Shandong, where he was executed

A tornado leveled the town of Green Forest, Arkansas, killing 16 people and injuring more than 50. In all, 26 people were killed in the storm.

current projects

One Day Less to Live - Images, transcriptions, and historical notes on the 1927-1931 diaries of my 2nd great grandmother, Annie Florence Macdonald (born Annie Florence Morris).

The Captain's Sea Chest - An old wooden sea chest that turned out to be the Pandora’s box of my maternal ancestry; full of not only innumerable photos, letters, and newspaper clippings, but also diaries and even pressed clothing.

The Siberian Coal Mine Mystery - Family legend turned unsolved mystery by the discovery of newspaper articles both supporting and disputing the story of Captain Joseph W. Morris’ imprisonment, chained to a corpse in an underground Siberian coal mine for three years.

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